Countywide : El Toro Panel Seeks to Appease Dissidents

Orange County officials acknowledged Tuesday that they are formulating a new planning strategy for the conversion of El Toro Marine Corps Air Station in a last-ditch attempt to appease dissident South County cities.

Supervisor Thomas F. Riley, chairman of the county-controlled El Toro planning task force, said it is hoped that the as yet-undisclosed strategy could mend a divisive relationship between the county and the cities as they grapple for control of future planning for the 4,700-acre base.

Until now, the County Board of Supervisors has been unwilling to share ultimate authority over future base planning with any other jurisdictions. That stand has resulted in a three-way split among the county, South County cities closest to the base and North County cities, all seeking a greater voice in future base planning.

South County cities are considering forming a separate agency that would compete with the county for federal planning grants for the base conversion.

Although Riley said he didn’t believe that the strategy would be significantly different from what was approved by supervisors three weeks ago, he declined to provide details about the changes or indicate how far the county was willing to go to meet the cities’ demands.

South County community leaders said they would welcome any plan in which the county shares the decision-making power with them. “We need to move forward on an equal footing,” said Laguna Hills Council member Randal J. Bressette.

Meanwhile, officials for Tustin and Leisure World in Laguna Hills said they are leaning toward joining the county planning committee.

Leisure World’s Golden Rain Foundation board voted Tuesday to attend an organizational meeting this month of the county’s 21-member El Toro task force, board member Patricia Green said.

The board wants to find out how much political leverage her community would have under the new plan before making a decision on whether to work with the county, Green added.

The county’s last proposal gave Leisure World a seat on a seven-member executive committee that would screen the task force’s redevelopment plan before sending it on to the supervisors. Leisure World would be legally prohibited from joining the South County cities’ planning agency.

The Leisure World board has to work with the county, Green said. “They are like our godfather. They control our taxes, they control everything for us.”

Also trying to stay out of the political fray is Tustin, which is sympathetic to South County cities but is working with county and federal officials on a redevelopment plan for the Tustin Marine Corps Air Station, which is scheduled to close in 1997.

Tustin City Manager William A. HustonC said the city is expected to join the county’s task force.

Jack Wagner, senior staff analyst in the county administrative office, said the moves by Tustin and Leisure World would strengthen the county’s leadership position. But Irvine City Councilman Barry J. Hammond said that “in the grand scheme of things, it’s not going to make a difference.”